Nigeria Starts Vote in Violent Struggle for Spoils of Office
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Nigeria holds the first of its three-stage national elections tomorrow as candidates vie to win a seat in parliament, a job that pays $100,000 a month in a country where half the people earn less than $1 a day.
The spoils of office in Africa’s top oil producer are one reason why a violent electoral campaign has claimed the lives of more than 50 people since July, according to Amnesty International. In a March 3 attack, at least 10 people died when explosives were hurled at a rally of President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party in the town of Suleja.